2012 College Football Week 7!

2012 College Football Week 7!

We're getting close to that halfway point of the season and I finally have a weekend with no plans to interfere.  I'm sure I just jinxed myself saying that though.

Cheering for:
-Duke: Maybe Cutcliffe has finally got it turned around.  Duke, yes Duke is 5-1 with winnable games left.  The loss was to Stanford!
-Ohio: Frank Solich has the Bobcats undefeated in Week 7 and all of the rest of the games are winnable too.

Laughing at:
-Georgia: I don't get to do this often, so I'll take my chance when I can.  I admit I didn't get to watch the game live last week, glad I didn't as I may have died laughing.  Totally unprepared for South Carolina.  This marks the first time that the Gamecocks have beaten UGA three years in a row.  Steve Spurrier took some time, but has UGA spooked again.  It's official, Georgia just can't handle him.

Feeling sorry for:
-We're down to four winless teams: Southern Miss, Tulane, UMass and Eastern Michigan.  Despite all four teams being in two conferences none are set to play each other.  We will cross our fingers for them anyway.

Top 25:
1) West Virginia
2) Notre Dame
3) Florida
4) Oregon State
5) Oregon
6) Ohio State
6) Alabama
8) Cincinnati
9) Kansas State
10) South Carolina
11) Rutgers
12) Ohio
12) Mississippi State
12) Louisiana Tech
15) Louisville
16) UTSA
17) Texas
17) Baylor
19) Texas A&M
19) LSU
21) Western Kentucky
22) Oklahoma
23) Georgia
24) Texas Tech
25) Iowa State

I think I have the last few right, math is being hard tonight.

The picks:
-Kansas State at Iowa State: Kansas State has been on a roll, but Iowa State is no pushover.  Last year the Cyclones pulled the upset of Oklahoma State at home, the Cowboys' only loss on the year.  Can they do it again?  I doubt it.  Kansas State by 10.
-Northwestern at Minnesota: Both teams suffered their first loss of the season in their respective last games.  Two weeks ago Iowa jumped out to a big lead against Minnesota and won, last week Penn State rallied past Northwestern.  Northwestern appears to be a better team but the game is on the road for them against a rested Golden Gopher team.  Minnesota wins by 3.
-Texas vs Oklahoma in Dallas, TX: Both teams enter this game with a conference loss, loser is pretty much out of the Big 12 race.  Texas has an offense and no defense, Oklahoma has a defense but a decent offense as well. The more balanced Sooners will win this game.  Oklahoma by 4.
-Duke at Virginia Tech: Duke comes into this game with the better record.  Who would have thought that at the start of the season?  I sure didn't.  While the 5-1 start is nice for Duke, the schedule really picks up between here and the end of the year.  Since joining the ACC in 2004 Virginia Tech has had a few close calls against Duke but never lost.  The trend continues despite the Hokies poor start to the season.  VT by 10.
-North Carolina at Miami: While North Carolina is ineligible for the postseason (including the ACC Championship game) this game may very well decide who wins the Coastal division.  Both are playing well in conference.  Miami has two out of conference losses (ugly ones too to Kansas State and Notre Dame).  North Carolina is coming off of a beatdown victory against Virginia Tech.  In true ACC fashion, Miami will win this and look good in the conference but poor out of conference.  Miami by 10.
-Stanford at Notre Dame: Conventional wisdom (well, if you call the talking heads at ESPN wise) says that Notre Dame will have no issues here.  I'm not quite so sure.  This game will tell us a lot about Stanford.  The one road game the Cardinal had was an ugly loss at Washington, this is road game number two.  Notre Dame is built well for this and is playing well to boot.  Stanford will not make this easy, but Notre Dame will win this by 3.
-Oregon State at BYU: Oregon State goes on the road to face a BYU team that at times has struggled to score. While I don't think the Beavers will run away with this one, they will win.  Oregon State by 4.
-West Virginia at Texas Tech: If you like offense tune in to this one.  West Virginia has lit up everyone they've played so far.  Texas Tech doesn't look to have enough on defense to slow them down.  I wouldn't count out the Red Raiders though, Tommy Tuberville knows how to beat top teams (ask Oklahoma).  That would be a huge upset though, and I don't quite see that happening.  West Virginia by 10.
-TCU at Baylor: TCU got a rude awakening last week in a road loss to Iowa State.  Baylor had the week off after getting 70 hung on them by West virginia two weeks ago.  This doesn't look like a standard TCU defense, while Baylor may be missing RG3, they've not slowed down much in his absense.  Baylor wins this one by 7.
-USC at Washington: Washington has had a tough start to the season, playing three top ten teams but winning against one (Stanford).  USC has only played one top 25 team and lost (Stanford again).  USC shouldn't have issues here, but look for a close game.  USC by 1.
-South Carolina at LSU: When is the last time you thought South Carolina could go to Baton Rouge and come out with a victory?  The chance is there this time.  LSU comes in with a host of offensive issues but the defense is solid.  South Carolina comes in knowing they're great on defense but can the offense hold up against LSU's line?  I'm going with LSU here as it is a night game in Baton Rouge.  LSU by 3.
-Texas A&M at Louisiana Tech: Whoever set up Texas A&M's schedule this year should get a dressing down.  Six road games including non-conference games at SMU and Louisiana Tech.  A&M had the tough week 2 loss against Florida but has rolled up wins ever since. Louisiana Tech hasn't lost at all.  Tech has a good offense and will score but doesn't have enough defense to slow down A&M to win it.  Texas A&M wins by 8.